San Vigilo di Marebbe, Italy • Mikaela Shiffrin doesn't need to look at social media to see what people are saying about her.

After failing to finish two straight races with next month's Pyeongchang Olympics approaching, the overall World Cup leader knows what her critics are thinking.

"I can see it in my mind, 'Mikaela Shiffrin faltering before the Olympics.' And, 'The streak is coming to an end,' " Shiffrin said Tuesday after a fall in the first run of a giant slalom. "But I'm not really worried about what other people think. That's a different place that I'm in this year compared to last year.

"I'm not invincible. I'm fighting every single race and you start to hear people say, 'It's boring because Mikaela is winning everything.' Well, it's not boring today," Shiffrin said. "I am in a good place mentally and I don't feel like today or the race in Cortina (Sunday's super-G, in which she missed a gate) is a sign. There are logical explanations for why I DNF'd in both races."

In the GS, Shiffrin lost control of her inside ski coming around a turn as she entered the toughest section of a slope named Erta, which translates as steep. With a gradient of 61 percent in that section, Shiffrin slid a long way down the course but immediately got up and was not injured.

"These things happen," said Jeff Lackie, one of Shiffrin's coaches. "They don't typically happen with Mikaela because she's so consistent. But anytime you add speed you have to be that much more diligent about being well balanced over the outside ski."

It marked the first time in more than six years that Shiffrin failed to finish two consecutive races. The last time came in back-to-back slaloms in Courchevel, France, and Flachau, Austria, in December 2011.

"Now is a good time if it has to happen," Lackie said. "I would rather it happen now and give her the opportunity to recalibrate and refocus."

Viktoria Rebensburg of Germany returned from two weeks in bed with the flu to claim her third win of the season, while Ragnhild Mowinckel of Norway and defending champion Federica Brignone of Italy came second and third, respectively, at the Kronplatz resort.

Shiffrin had been undefeated this year in the technical disciplines of GS, slalom and parallel slalom with five straight wins. And while she has been dominant in slalom with seven wins in eight races this season, she has only won two of six GS races — with Rebensburg and Brignone gathering the other victories.

"There are many strong girls in the GS races," Rebensburg said "It's not just (Shiffrin)."

Still, Shiffrin was distraught after her error, retreating immediately to the team hotel without stopping to review the race with her mother and coach, Eileen, as she usually does.

"I don't think she should be too disappointed," Eileen Shiffrin said. "She made a mistake getting on her inside ski. I'm sure she won't do that again."

Added Lackie: "You don't need to drag your face through the mud. She knows what she did wrong. Failure is not fatal. We'll move on."

After collecting herself in her hotel room, Shiffrin eventually came down and discussed the race. To lift her spirits, she played with the 5-month-old son of her ski technician, Kim Erlandson, while she spoke.

"It's really heartbreaking," Shiffrin said, wiping away a tear or two. "Because out of all the runs that I ski — and I train more than probably anybody — I don't crash and I don't DNF. ... I place so much emphasis on making every single turn perfect."

Still, Shiffrin realizes that in the grand scheme of things, these races are not all that important. While she dropped slightly behind Rebensburg in the giant slalom standings, Shiffrin still holds a massive 843-point lead over the German in the overall standings.

"Today is not the focus. The Olympics is the focus," Shiffrin said. "But for me today is just a lesson to remember that nobody is invincible."

São Paulo • São Paulo closed its zoo and botanical gardens Tuesday as a yellow fever outbreak that has led to 70 deaths is picking up steam.

The big Inhotim art park, which attracts visitors from all over the world, also announced that all visitors would have to show proof of vaccination to be allowed in. The park said the measure was preventive and no case of yellow fever had been found there.

Cases of yellow fever have been rising in Brazil during the Southern Hemisphere summer rainy season, and health officials are planning to vaccinate millions of people in the coming weeks in the hopes of containing the outbreak.

Authorities did not say when the São Paulo zoo or nearby botanical gardens would reopen. The zoo said in a statement that a wild monkey was found dead last week in the park that contains the zoo and tests Monday confirmed it was positive for yellow fever.

According to figures put out by each state, 148 cases have been confirmed in the southeastern states of Minas Gerais, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Of those, 69 people have died. A week ago, the Health Ministry had confirmed 34 cases and 19 deaths in those states; it also confirmed one case in the capital district that ended in death.

São Paulo has registered the most cases, with 81, and the World Health Organization recommended last week that foreigners planning to travel anywhere in the state be vaccinated for the mosquito-borne disease. Brazil’s own recommendations include only parts of the state.

Much of Brazil is considered at risk for yellow fever, but last year it saw its largest outbreak of the disease in decades, including in areas not previously thought to be at risk. More than 770 people were infected, and more than 250 died. Minas Gerais was at the epicenter of that outbreak, and it declared a state of emergency last week.

Yellow fever typically causes fever, muscle pain and nausea; some patients also experience the jaundice from which the disease gets its name.

Utah House Republican leaders took a first slap Tuesday at Gov. Gary Herbert — and said more are coming — in retaliation after he prevented them from writing rules for last year’s special congressional election.

Lawmakers unveiled HB198, designed to ensure that the governor can never again block the attorney general from providing them legal opinions. House Speaker Greg Hughes said a constitutional amendment is also coming that could allow the Legislature to call itself into a special session — a power currently reserved exclusively to the governor.

Herbert last year refused to call a special session to allow legislators to write rules for the election, and effectively blocked an attorney general’s opinion going to they requested on whether the governor was acting legally.

Current law requires the attorney general to provide lawmakers legal opinions upon request, but Herbert effectively blocked this opinion going to the Legislature by claiming its release would violate his attorney-client privilege.

He said the AG had general already been working with him about election plans. When a separate part of the AG’s office prepared an opinion for the Legislature, Herbert protested that by advising both sides in a potential lawsuit, the office would violate professional ethics.

Attorney General Sean Reyes then refused to release the opinion until Herbert finally waived his attorney-client privilege claim last week. (Ironically, the opinion said Herbert was acting legally in setting rules for the election).

The new bill, HB198, outlines procedures that Hughes said should ensure that attorney-client privileges of governors are not harmed.

It requires the attorney general to erect confidentiality “walls” between different parts of the office working on similar opinions for different clients (which Reyes says he did last year). The bill declares that this separation satisfies “any ethical or professional obligation arising from the potential conflict of interest.”

Hughes said, “We think that the AG’s office is built to address those conflicts with firewalls.”

For example, when The Salt Lake Tribune went to the State Records Committee last year seeking the then-confidential opinion, Hughes notes the committee was advised by a lawyer from the attorney general’s office while another assistant attorney general argued against releasing the document.

“If that isn’t rife with conflict, I don’t know what is. But if you can handle that, then I think the relationship with the governor should be able to be handled appropriately,” Hughes said.

The bill also would require delivery of opinions that lawmakers request within 30 days. If the attorney general declines to do so for any reason, it allows legislators to appeal directly to the Utah Supreme Court for an expedited review of the case.

Hughes said the bill should clarify the law. “I hope the AG would like that clarity too, and I hope that it is not seen as adversarial but more as clarifying.”

He said a constitutional amendment is also coming to allow the Legislature to call itself into special session “in very rare, limited circumstances where there is a constitutional duty that the legislative branch is obligated to fulfill, or it’s within our purview.”

He added, “We don’t want that to be common. Frankly, I hope it is something we would never do. But in very rare circumstances where there is that constitutional duty or prerogative, we want to make sure that is followed.”

The action comes a day after Hughes warned in his opening speech that part-time lawmakers need to assert their authority more against the full-time governor to maintain a balance of powers.

Requests for comment from the offices of Herbert and Reyes were not immediately returned.

Utahn Robert Edwin Francis, who admitted receiving images in a live video chat of a man sexually abusing a child, was sentenced Monday to 12 years in federal prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release.

And on Tuesday in state court, the 41-year-old Lehi resident was ordered to serve a concurrent sentence of five years to life for sexual abuse of a child in an unrelated case.

Deputy Utah County Attorney Lance Bastian said Francis will serve the federal sentence first, then be transferred to state custody.

In the federal case, Francis pleaded guilty in November to receipt of child pornography and in exchange, one count each of production of child pornography and possession of child pornography were dropped. His sentence was handed down on Monday by U.S. District Court Judge Dee Benson.

Court documents say Francis conducted multiple chats and shared sexually explicit photos of children from a “date unknown” until about Aug. 16, 2017, with someone whose screen name was clark_bueno. A federal grand jury indicted Francis a week later on the three child pornography charges.

On Tuesday, Francis pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual abuse of a child, a first-degree felony, and was sentenced by 4th District Judge Robert Lunnen. Under a plea bargain, a second count of aggravated sexual abuse of a child and two counts of forcible sexual abuse were dropped.

The federal prosecution of Francis has a connection to the pending case of Bountiful doctor Nathan Clark Ward.

In September, a federal grand jury issued a separate indictment accusing the obstetrician-gynecologist of one count each of production of child pornography, possession of child pornography and distribution of child pornography. Prosecutors have said that Francis’ case stemmed from the investigation of Ward.

Ward already already been arrested and charged in Utah’s 2nd District Court with 11 felonies, including aggravated sexual child abuse and sexual exploitation of a minor. The state and federal cases are both pending, and Ward remains in jail.

After his arrest, Ward agreed not to practice medicine until his case is resolved but did not admit any wrongdoing.

Moscow • Several of Russia's top medal hopes for next month's Olympics, including six-time short-track speedskating gold medalist Viktor Ahn, have been barred from the Pyeongchang Games amid the country's ongoing doping scandal.

Already depleted by doping bans and forced to compete under a neutral flag, Russia now faces an Olympics without some of its top skiers, figure skaters and sliders after they failed to pass International Olympic Committee vetting.

Five hockey players have also been barred, including former NHL players Sergei Plotnikov, Valeri Nichushkin and Anton Belov.

The exclusions stirred renewed talk of a boycott, though Sports Minister Pavel Kolobkov said Tuesday the decision to compete by athletes and officials at a meeting last month remained in force.

The chairman of the Russian parliament's sports committee, however, told The Associated Press that the country needed to "defend out honor."

"There was an attempt to take the Russian athletes' flag, anthem, to push Russia toward a boycott ... And now this is the second attempt, tyranny, an attempt to drive a wedge between athletes who had managed to keep their good name," Mikhail Degtyarev said. "I'm not personally a supporter of a boycott. I consider it counterproductive, but we need to defend our honor."

The Russian Figure Skating Federation said the IOC was trying to provoke Russia into a boycott.

The federation said it was "deeply disappointed in this baseless IOC decision which is reminiscent of a provocation with the aim of forcing Russian athletes by any means possible to decline to participate in the games."

Besides Ahn, the Russian Olympic Committee said Tuesday that cross-country skier Sergei Ustyugov and biathlete Anton Shipulin had been left out of an IOC pool of eligible athletes. Other officials said five men's hockey players, two-time figure skating medalist Ksenia Stolbova and several other speedskaters were excluded.

As punishment for what it termed a sophisticated doping program at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, the IOC has forced all Russians competing in Pyeongchang to do so as "Olympic Athletes from Russia" under the Olympic flag, rather than as an official Russian team.

Russian athletes must be vetted by an IOC commission, which will examine their history of drug testing and links to past doping, before they are invited to the games.

ROC senior vice president Stanislav Pozdnyakov said he had demanded an explanation from the IOC, adding that Ahn, Ustyugov and Shipulin "have never been involved in any doping cases and all of the many samples they have given during their careers testify that they are clean athletes. Regardless, their names are currently missing from the list of potential participants in the games."

Pozdnyakov said he hopes the IOC decisions could be overturned.

The Soviet Union boycotted the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics after the United States boycotted the Moscow Games four years earlier.

The IOC said it would not comment on individual cases, and has not spelled out why any individual athletes were refused.

"By carefully looking at all the evidence available we wanted to be absolutely certain that there was not the slightest doubt or suspicion against any of those athletes who will be invited," said Valerie Fourneyron, who chairs the IOC panel which decides which Russians can compete.

"Not being included on the invitation list does not necessarily mean that an athlete has been doped - it should not automatically cast doubt on their integrity. The IOC would like to make clear that there may still be further enquires and further anti-doping procedures coming up against a number of those athletes who have not been included on the pool of athletes considered for invitation."

Ahn won three gold medals for South Korea in short-track speedskating at the 2006 Olympics as Ahn Hyun-soo before switching allegiance to Russia in the run-up to the 2014 Sochi Olympics, where he won three more.

The Russian Figure Skating Federation said in a statement that Stolbova, who won team gold and pairs silver in 2014, was excluded, as well as ice dancer Ivan Bukin, the son of 1988 Olympic gold medalist Andrei Bukin.

The head of the Russian Skating Union, Alexei Kravtsov, told the RIA Novosti state news agency that numerous other speedskaters had been barred. They include world champions Pavel Kulizhnikov and Denis Yuskov, both of whom have previously served doping bans, as well as Ruslan Zakharov, who won an Olympic relay gold medal in short-track speedskating in Sochi in 2014.

Russian news agencies reported the IOC still considers all members of the Russian Alpine skiing, freestyle skiing and curling teams to be eligible.

On Friday, the IOC said it had cut an initial list of 500 Russian athletes down to a pool of 389, but didn't give any names. Russian officials have expressed hope they could field a team of 200 athletes. That's below the number that competed for Russia in 2014, but above its total from the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow is waiting for the IOC to clarify the situation.

"We have seen those deplorable reports in the media," Peskov said. "We deeply regret if such decisions have indeed been taken. But we hope the situation will clear up because we do have contacts with the IOC. We hope those contacts will help clarify the situation around the aforementioned prominent athletes."

When Marlin Jackson arrived at his row on a Delta flight from Atlanta to San Diego in June, the middle seat was already occupied by a man with a sizable dog on his lap. Jackson squeezed by them to his window seat, and the Labrador mix lunged at his face. The attack lasted about 30 seconds, according to Jackson's attorney, and left him with facial wounds that required 28 stitches and scars that are still visible today.

The mauling, which Delta said was inflicted by a canine identified as an "emotional support" animal, was among the thousands of incidents that just pushed the nation's largest airline to tighten rules for passengers flying with service or comfort animals. In announcing the changes Friday, Delta said it flew 250,000 animals in those categories last year, an increase of 150 percent from 2015, while "incidents" such as biting or defecating had nearly doubled since 2016.

Delta's announcement emphasized safety concerns, but it also was spurred by a widespread perception among airlines and disability rights advocates that some fliers are fraudulently taking advantage of federal law to bring untrained pets of myriad species into crowded cabins.

Though the Americans With Disabilities Act defines service animals as trained dogs or miniature horses, airlines are bound by the more liberal Air Carrier Access Act of 1986, which allows free travel for "any animal" that is trained to assist a person with a disability or that provides emotional support. Airlines can require passengers with creatures in the second category to produce a letter from a physician or mental-health professional, but the documents are easily forged or obtained from websites that provide cursory, questionnaire-style "exams."

The result, airline officials complain, has been a surge in poorly trained animals that has turned some flights into airborne menageries, with dogs blocking beverage carts, cats urinating on seats and ducks wandering the aisles.

"It's created a real issue on our planes," said Taylor Garland, a spokesperson for the Association of Flight Attendants, which applauded Delta's changes. Garland said one union member was asked to administer oxygen to a dog that, according to its owner, was having anxiety midflight. Others have been bitten. "The aircraft cabin is a unique space, and … we need to recognize the limitations that exist when you're flying in the air in a metal tube."

Other airlines have not released their own figures, and the Department of Transportation says it does not collect data on service and support animals on U.S. flights. But the agency's reports on disability-related complaints show that those involving service animals nearly quadrupled between 2012 and 2016, when more than 2,300 were filed. Scrutiny of service animals is also sharpening on the ground: Nineteen states now have laws that criminalize passing off pets as service animals.

Airlines have pushed for new federal rules to reduce fraud, and the transportation agency plans to begin taking comments on proposed regulations in July.

But the outcry is not limited to airline officials. People with allergies to pet dander, who are also protected under federal disability laws, often think that their concerns are trumped by those of passengers with animals, said Sanaz Eftekhari of the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, which has started collecting stories from its members. And service-animal groups say that an increase in what are clearly pets on planes has led to heightened scrutiny of working animals - and even endangered some.

Gillian Lindt, 86, is blind and flies regularly with her guide dog between Washington, France and her main residence in Florida. She said she always requests a window seat so Stella's tail does not stretch into the aisle, and the 54-pound dog always wears a harness and sits quietly at her owner's feet.

On a recent flight, Lindt said, a woman sat next to her in the middle seat and plopped a small, barking dog onto the tray table. The woman said it was an emotional support animal and suggested that the two dogs could play together. Lindt was aghast.

"I'm trying to explain that, unfortunately, my dog would love to play, but they're trained not to, because this is work," she said. The woman was moved across the aisle, and an apologetic flight attendant wiped down the tray; the little dog barked on and off through the flight. "My dog knows she must never, ever bark when she's in a harness," Lindt added.

In 2016, the Transportation Department convened a panel of disability advocates and airline industry officials to propose new regulations on service animals, as well as on two disability-related issues relating to plane restrooms and in-flight entertainment. Several participants said they expected the animal topic to be the easiest to negotiate, but it was the only one on which the committee failed to reach consensus after nearly seven months.

Published documents show disagreement on many details. The airlines were hoping to align practices with the ADA by limiting permitted species. Some disability advocates suggested defining emotional support animals as only dogs and cats; others wanted to allow rabbits and household birds. Service-animal organizations wanted the department to recognize "psychiatric service animals" - typically dogs, which can be trained to perform tasks such as turning on lights for individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder - as working animals that don't require a medical letter.

Several participants backed tougher questioning at the time of ticket purchase to deter those trying to present pets as service or support animals - perhaps in part to avoid the travel charge of $100 or more they'd otherwise face.

"I'm not sure how big an effect it would have, but it keeps the honest people honest," said Jenine Stanley, the consumer relations coordinator for the Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind and America's VetDogs, who co-chaired the committee and praised Delta's revised rules.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness wanted any requirements to apply across the board to both service and support animals, said Angela Kimball, its national director of advocacy and public policy, who called the negotiations "so politically fraught." But the group did not want changes to create "undue burdens" that could prevent people with disabilities from traveling. Obtaining a letter from a mental-health professional can be expensive and time-consuming, Kimball noted.

"Under current regulations, there's a disparate response to emotional support animals … and we think that it's essentially a form of discrimination against a set of disabilities that are not visible," she said. "Any time you marginalize or create different conditions for a set of people, it's very disconcerting and stigmatizing."

Delta's new requirements, which take effect March 1, retain those distinctions. Passengers with trained service animals will need to submit a veterinary health form at least 48 hours before travel to the airline's new "Service Animal Support Desk." Customers with emotional-support animals or psychiatric service animals must do the same but also must provide a letter from a doctor or mental-health professional and a signed document saying the animal is trained to behave in public. (Delta also recently expanded its list of prohibited critters, including "farm poultry," hedgehogs and anything with tusks.)

The rise in emotional-support animals has coincided with growing publicity on the mental-health benefit of pets - an idea researchers say is poorly substantiated through studies but widely embraced by the public. Many owners say they, like service animal users, greatly depend on their emotional-support animals and face undue suspicion because of fakers.

Ashley Marie MacDonald, 29, says she doesn't mind producing a letter from her psychologist when she flies with her emotional-support parakeet, who stays in his cage. She has had anxiety, depression and a pain disorder since a work-related injury in 2012, and she doesn't want to be away from Stormy or "think about life without him." He comforts her when she is upset, she said, even licking tears from her face.

Last year, MacDonald recounted, an airline employee at a Florida airport questioned the validity of her letter at check-in and then kicked Stormy's cage, knocking him off his perch.

"I am very aware that there are people that go online and pay to have these forged documents, but I'm not one of them," said MacDonald, who lives in Cincinnati and said her disability forced her to stop working and end her pharmaceutical studies. "There should be a penalty against that."

Douglas Kidd, executive director of the National Association of Airline Passengers, said that much of the blame for the problems lies with Congress, which wrote too broad a law, and air carriers that have overbooked flights, reduced legroom and poorly treated animals that fly in the cargo bay. He argued that airlines should designate more spacious rows for passengers with true service or support animals.

"It's certainly a difficult situation to navigate," acknowledged J. Ross Massey, the lawyer Jackson hired soon after being mauled on that 2017 Delta flight. But in that instance, Massey said, the airline's middle-seat placement of a passenger traveling with a large dog was a "recipe for disaster." The 44-year-old Jackson, a government employee who lives near Mobile, Alabama, is now preparing for plastic surgery to correct some of the damage. He also is mulling legal action, according to Massey.

"There are competing interests. Obviously, anybody with the need for a service animal should have one," he said. "But the other 99 percent of people on the plane would also like to rest easy being able to know that … this animal is trained to go into such a stressful situation."

A few dozen state employees have been taking advantage of a law passed two years ago that is designed to make it easier to report abusive conduct by bosses or co-workers by going outside the normal chain of command.

Lawmakers were told Tuesday that 67 state workers made such complaints between July 2015 and December 2017.

“Forty-three of those complaints met the statutory criteria and were investigated,” said Rebecca Parr, the new labor relations director for the Department of Human Resource Management.

Of those 43, seven people were found to have violated rules and received different levels of punishment.

“Actions taken included a verbal warning, a written reprimand, two suspensions without pay, two demotions and a dismissal,” Parr said.

The House Economic Development and Workforce Service Committee asked for the report to help determine if HB216 passed in 2015 is working and being used.

“Abusive conduct” under that state law is different than employment discrimination based on race, sex, color, religion and national origin that is banned by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

The state law bans conduct that “is intended to cause intimidation, humiliation or unwarranted distress,” or “exploits an employee’s known physical or psychological disability.”

“We have a process that allows employees to address abusive conduct outside the chain of command,” Parr said. “That is something new,” and data about it is being collected for the first time.

“It is showing they are having the opportunity to raise those complaints,” she said. Also, the bill requires all state employees to receive training about abusive conduct every other year, and shortly after they are first hired.

A 19-year-old Murray man received 56 days in jail and three years of probation for shooting up two houses with a shotgun in 2016.

Micah Everett Mackley was sentenced Monday by 3rd District Judge Keith Kelly. Mackley will have to submit to substance abuse and mental health evaluations and comply with whatever treatment is recommended.

He will also have to submit to drug and alcohol testing and is specifically ordered to not use spice — synthetic marijuana — or ivory wave — a synthetic psychoactive crystalline drug.

Mackely was charged with second-degree felony possession of an explosive device, five counts of third-degree felony discharge of a firearm and two counts of class B misdemeanor criminal mischief.

As part of a plea deal, he pleaded guilty to three counts of discharge of a firearm and the other charges were dismissed.

According to police reports, Mackley shot at a former friend’s house in Millcreek with a BB gun on Dec. 6, 2016, then taunted the friend — who had become a romantic rival — with text messages.

Later that day, Mackley went back to the house, located near 1000 E. Millcreek Way (3500 South), and shot at the home twice with a shotgun, then shot at a residence near 1600 E. 4200 South in Murray three times. Police reports do not explain a possible motive or connection between Mackley and the residents of the Murray home.

No injuries were reported in those shootings, though buckshot struck the Millcreek home in several places, police said.

According to the intended victim, on Dec. 2, 2016, Mackley had thrown a Molotov cocktail through the window of the victim’s father’s business at 225 West Paramount Ave. (1525 South), where the victim sometimes sleeps.

When police went to the business they found a large hole in one of the windows, along with a green glass bottle with a sock jammed in the top. Gasoline had leaked from the bottle, a police report states.

Mackley became a suspect after witnesses identified him and his vehicle. When police went to his home, near 800 E. 4300 South in Murray, about 9 p.m. to arrest him, Mackley’s father and grandmother left but he holed up in the home.

SWAT was brought in and eventually was able to get Mackley out and arrest him without incident in the early morning hours of Dec. 7, 2016.

Yoeli Childs and Luke Worthington say discipline will be key vs Saint Mary’s pic.twitter.com/2eP6zeAu2B

— Jay Drew (@drewjay) January 24, 2018

Provo • If BYU has any hope of upsetting No. 16 Saint Mary’s on Thursday at McKeon Pavilion in Moraga, Calif., the Cougars must slow down Gaels big man Jock Landale.

That’s no secret. What the Cougars are not divulging is how they plan to do that.

In the Gaels’ 74-64 overtime win on Dec. 30 at the Marriott Center, Landale almost single-handedly beat BYU with 31 points on 13-for-15 shooting. Officials allowed the 6-foot-11, 260-pound Australian to repeatedly drop his shoulder and bull his way to the hoop, and he took advantage to the dismay of more than 16,000 fans who screamed for offensive fouls.

“Everybody has put together what they think can work for them. Only a few guys have been able to break it, as far as this year is concerned, because he has had pretty good games almost every game all season long,” BYU coach Dave Rose said. “We have an adjustment to our plan that we had last time. I think our plan was pretty good, but he still was good enough to beat us.”

BYU’s best interior defender, 6-10, 230-pound Luke Worthington, started in that game and the two after it. But after the Cougars scored fewer than 70 points in three straight games, Rose put 6-7 guard Zac Seljaas into the starting lineup and had Worthington come off the bench during the Cougars’ current four-game winning streak.

“It is a possibility [that Worthington will start],” he said. “But we are on a nice run right now and I think the matchup with Jock will be pretty diverse as far as our team is concerned. How we start isn’t nearly as important as how we finish.”

Rose closes practices

Until this season, Rose had only closed BYU’s practices to the public and the media a couple of times in his 13-year tenure. But almost all of them have been closed this season.

“My [assistants] have been trying to convince me for years, and I have always been a guy that has just said, ‘hey, if people want to come watch, let them come watch,’ ” Rose said. “But I guess the kicker this year [is] they have shown me actual proof of the fact that people kinda know what is going on before we go and play them.”

Rose said his assistants asked him if he knew every person who watched his practices 20 or 30 years ago had a video camera in their hand, if he would have had open practices.

Of course not, he said.

“Everybody who comes to practice now has a [cell phone camera],” Rose said. “They are paranoid. I am not, really. But I gave in.”

NCAA mum on Emery investigation

Junior guard Nick Emery posted another blog last week describing his path back from the conditions that caused him to withdraw from BYU a day before the 2017-18 season opener. Emery continues to say he plans to return to the team next season, but did not address his potential issues with the NCAA regarding his eligibility after The Tribune reported in October that he possibly received improper benefits from a BYU booster.

BYU officials said last week that they have nothing new to report after sending their findings to the NCAA.

Tuesday, an NCAA spokeswoman declined to provide any information on Emery’s case.

Worthingon’s bittersweet memories

Worthington was a freshman on the 2013-14 BYU team that won at Saint Mary’s 60-57 on Feb. 15, 2014, to spoil Matthew Dellavedova’s jersey retirement night. Worthington sustained an AC joint separation in the game.

“Smaller venue, but fun to play there and I just have a feeling that we need to do it again — and we should do it again, and that is what is going to happen because I think this team is the best team that I’ve played on,” he said. “Actually, I know it is the best team that I’ve played on. And I am excited to go snag this one.”

Washington • Electronic cigarettes could be a boon to public health or a major liability, depending on whether they help Americans quit smoking or encourage more young people to try traditional cigarettes, a new report concludes.

The report issued Tuesday wrestles with the potential benefits and harms of the vapor-emitting devices which have been sold in the U.S. for more than a decade. But those effects may not be known for decades, in part, because of how slowly illnesses caused by smoking emerge.

"In some circumstances, such as their use by non-smoking adolescents and young adults, their adverse effects clearly warrant concern," said David Eaton, of the University of Washington, who headed the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine committee that studied the issue. "In other cases, such as when adult smokers use them to quit smoking, they offer an opportunity to reduce smoking-related illness."

There are no long-term studies on the health consequences of e-cigarettes and little consensus on whether they are effective in helping smokers quit, according to the report requested by the Food and Drug Administration.

The experts found "substantial" evidence that young people who use e-cigarettes are more likely to try cigarettes. On the other hand, experts found only "limited evidence" that cigarettes are effective tools to help adult smokers quit.

The committee's review of more than 800 studies yielded many findings that were largely in line with prior assessments by other researchers. For instance, the panel found "conclusive evidence" that most e-cigarettes contain numerous chemicals that can be toxic. However, there was equally strong evidence that e-cigarettes contain fewer toxicants and at lower levels than regular cigarettes.

E-cigarettes have been sold in the U.S. since at least 2007. Most devices heat a liquid nicotine solution into vapor and have been promoted to smokers as a less dangerous alternative since they don't have all the chemicals, tar or smoke of regular cigarettes. E-cigarettes and similar vaping devices have grown into a $4 billion-dollar U.S. industry with thousands of varieties of flavors and customizable products available in specialty shops and online.

The FDA gained authority to regulate the devices in 2016 after years of pushback from the industry. But last year the agency said it would delay the deadline for manufacturers to submit their devices for review until 2022. The decision was blasted by anti-smoking advocates who say some e-cigarette manufacturers target kids with candy and fruit flavors.

The FDA has signaled its intention to begin pushing U.S. consumers away from traditional cigarettes toward alternative products, such as e-cigarettes. The regulatory delay was intended, in part, to give companies more time to research their products.

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb called the link between e-cigarette use and trying smoking in young people "troubling."

"We need to put novel products like e-cigarettes through an appropriate series of regulatory gates to fully evaluate their risks and maximize their potential benefits," he said in a statement.

Some other key takeaways and questions from the report:

• Chemicals in e-cigarette vapor, such as formaldehyde, are capable of damaging DNA in humans. However, it’s unclear if the chemicals exist at levels high enough to cause cancer.<br>• Switching completely from traditional cigarettes to e-cigarettes significantly reduces exposure to numerous cancer-causing chemicals.<br>• E-cigarettes can sometimes explode causing burns and injuries. The risk of such accidents is higher with devices that are stored improperly or contain low-quality batteries.<br>• There is substantial evidence that e-cigarette vapor contains traces of metal, possibly due to the metallic coils used to heat liquid that the devices vaporize.

With the backing of conservative and liberal groups, lawmakers are moving ahead with a bill that would create a state tax credit for some of Utah’s working poor families, a credit that’s viewed as a key way to help families find their way out of poverty with limited state assistance.

HB57 cleared a House committee unanimously Tuesday, the second day of the 45-day legislative session.

The bill would allow nearly 25,000 people whose families have a history of poverty to claim a new state earned income tax credit worth as much as $600 a year — 10 percent of a popular federal credit. Those eligible are people who work low-income jobs, qualify for the federal credit and file state taxes, and have a long history of poverty.

“It’s a cost-effective way to help families that need it most,” said Rep. John Westwood, R-Cedar City. “This is a tailored bill to those that need it most.”

Experts view the earned income tax credit as a key way to help families out of poverty. The bill would be targeted to people whose families have been in poverty and government dependence for at least two generations.

Lawmakers have proposed the bill several times in recent years, including last year, but have struggled to overcome concerns of the price tag.

HB57 would cost about $6 million starting in 2020, according to Westwood. That’s significantly less than the $25 million lawmakers proposed in 2014 that passed the House but failed in the Senate, but up about $1 million from a bill last year.

To qualify for the federal credit, a single person with one child could make up to $39,617, according to federal guidelines. A married couple with three or more children could make up to nearly $54,000. The average credit under the Utah credit proposed in the bill would be about $240.

House Minority Leader Brian King, D-Salt Lake City, said this year may be the best chance at passing the bill. Tax experts expect Utah will get a windfall from the federal tax changes on top of the additional money it has to spend thanks to a booming economy.

But King thinks the bill should cover more working people, noting about 200,000 more working people receive the federal tax credit but won’t be covered by the proposed state credit, according to information from Voices for Utah Children, which is supporting the bill.

“If anything we’re too targeted. We’re too small,” King said, who added he’d still support the bill as is. “There are a ton of families who don’t fall on that intergenerational poverty list that could definitely use” the help.

Pope Francis is preparing an address on “fake news” expected to tackle the thorny issue of journalistic integrity in a speech marking World Communications Day.

Francis announced his choice of topic in September, saying the message would be delivered Wednesday — the Catholic feast day of Francis de Sales, patron saint of journalists.

“I have chosen this theme for World Communications Day 2018: ‘The truth will set you free’ (John 8:32). Fake news and journalism for peace,” the pontiff tweeted.

According to a Vatican news release in September, the pope’s address is expected to promote “professional journalism” over and against “fake news.” The term, made famous by President Donald Trump, was defined by the Vatican’s Secretariat for Communication as “baseless information that contributes to generating and nurturing a strong polarization of opinions.”

The pontiff has some personal experience with fake news. During the 2016 election, a satirical news website asserted that Francis endorsed Trump for president. The story was patently false, but became one of the most widely circulated fake news stories on Facebook in advance of the election, according to BuzzFeed.

Francis has railed against “fake news” and misleading reporting in the past. During a meeting with journalists at the Vatican in December, he urged reporters not to fall prey to “sins of communication.”

According to Newsweek, he explained such “sins” include “disinformation, or giving just one side, calumny that is sensationalized, or defamation, looking for things that are old news and have been dealt with and bringing them to light today.” He added: “They are very grave sins, which damage the heart of the journalist and harm people.”

The address comes just days after the pope said sexual abuse victims in Chile were guilty of “calumny” for accusing Bishop Juan Barros of helping to cover up the sex crimes of a priest who is one of Chile’s most notorious pedophiles. Victims reportedly told church authorities about the abuse by the Rev. Fernando Karadimas as early as 2002, but it was only after they went public with their stories in 2010 that a Vatican investigation stripped Karadimas of his ministry.

Francis maintained he had seen no proof of wrongdoing by Barros but later apologized for the remarks, saying he understands they were a “slap in the face” to victims.

Herriman • Real Salt Lake and Real Monarchs players trickled out of the players’ entrance onto the brand new turf field Tuesday for their first full combined training session after reporting Monday for physicals and fitness.

Rows of bright lights shone down from the soaring ceiling of a building that is — per RSL communications — the largest freestanding structure in North America.

“It’s a Premier League-standard facility,” midfielder Albert Rusnák said. “There are not many in MLS like this, so hopefully this will be a standard for this league as well.”

RSL opened preseason camp this week at the $78 million Zions Bank Real Academy (yes, that figure does keep growing). RSL’s indoor facility has given the team the chance to train in Utah for the first leg of preseason and served as a selling point for players the team has successfully wooed in the transfer window.

“Preseason, it’s long,” veteran Kyle Beckerman said, “so if you can get a week at home and still get in the work that you need to put in, it just makes everybody a little bit more comfortable, and it also helps to train in altitude.”

In past years, RSL has spent almost the entire preseason in California or Arizona. This year, RSL will spend the second leg in Tucson, Ariz., and the third in Orlando, Fla.

The temperature on Tuesday afternoon hovered around the high 30s, but inside the expansive warehouse-like facility, players practiced comfortably in shorts on one of the two regulation-sized fields.

Fields on fields. pic.twitter.com/LUzjCO65cb

— Maddie Lee (@maddie_m_lee) January 23, 2018

“My first reaction was like, ‘Woah,’” said defender Demar Phillips, who took his first spin on the practice field about three weeks ago. “This is what football is about. You get facilities like this and you just want to get motivated to come to work every day.”

The Herriman facilities have also garnered plenty of praise from new Utah Royals players, who cited it as a sign of owner Dell Loy Hansen’s commitment to the club. But it wasn’t only NWSL players that it helped lure to Utah.

Defender Adam Henley, two weeks ago, described a conversation he had with general manager Craig Waibel and technical director Dane Murphy that made him want to leave England’s Blackburn Rovers for Utah.

“Obviously with the new facilities it’s there for everyone to see how serious the club together is willing to make strides forward,” Henley said at his introductory press conference.

Tucked away in Herriman, RSL’s new practice facilities are far removed from Salt Lake City (“I didn’t know we were still in Utah,” Beckerman joked,) but about a 12-mile drive from Rio Tinto Stadium.

RSL also has the option to prepare on the indoor fields ahead of matches on artificial turf fields. The turf, while not as good a surface as grass, received positive reviews from players. Once the weather improves, RSL will move outside to the facility’s grass fields.

Thanks to @CarlitaS07 for the behind the scenes tour of the Herriman facilities (that’s whose voice you hear.) Weight room and training room pictured below. pic.twitter.com/b4x3wp9ITI

— Maddie Lee (@maddie_m_lee) January 23, 2018

As training wrapped up Tuesday, players stretched on the field before disappearing into the players’ section of the building, which houses numerous locker rooms, a weight room and a training room.

“We’re in the future I think,” said Beckerman, who remembers playing in baseball outfields in the early days of his 18-year MLS career. “But this will be normal for every MLS team in the next five to 10 years, I think.”

Key Dates<br>Jan. 30-Feb. 8 • Spring Training Trip to Tucson, Ariz.<br>Feb. 12-Feb. 23 • Spring Training Trip to Orlando, Fla.<br>March 3 • Season opener at FC Dallas<br>March 10 • Home opener vs. LAFC.

Philadelphia • Winning is an easy sell.

The Philadelphia Eagles are the first team since the 1990 New York Giants to reach a Super Bowl without a player totaling 1,000 scrimmage yards though running backs Jay Ajayi and LeGarrette Blount and wide receivers Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith have done so in the past.

That group plus Pro Bowl tight end Zach Ertz, wide receiver Nelson Agholor and others have bought into a team-first, unselfish concept. They're not checking their stats after games. The only number they cared about all season was the win column.

One more against New England in the Super Bowl brings home the team's first NFL title since 1960.

"I think this group of guys is as good as you could ask to be around," offensive coordinator Frank Reich said. "Really, the character and the work ethic, the camaraderie, just the commitment to the process that Coach (Doug Pederson) and our staff is always talking about. There's a complete buy-in.

"It really helps that we've had the success and the execution. It's always easier to buy in when you're having the success that we've had."

Blount didn't even get a carry in a loss at Kansas City in Week 2. Then he ran for a season-high 136 yards two weeks later at the Chargers. It was the only 100-yard rushing performance by Philadelphia this season.

Blount, who led the NFL with 18 rushing touchdowns with New England last year, led the Eagles with 766 yards rushing but his touches decreased after Ajayi was acquired from Miami.

"You can't be selfish when everybody has one common goal," Blount said. "You have to make sacrifices for the betterment of the team. We've done that and it's gotten us this far."

Ajayi came to Philadelphia with a reputation for selfishness, but it hasn't been an issue. He kneeled on the turf and sobbed after the Eagles beat Minnesota in the NFC championship game.

"It's a special feeling to not be done and to still have our goal of winning a Super Bowl right there in front of us," he said.

Jeffery was the go-to man in Chicago before joining the Eagles. He didn't have one 100-yard game, but led the team with nine TD catches.

"We're not looking at numbers, just going out there and playing," Jeffery said. "No matter who's out there having a great game, or whoever the ball's going to, as long as we're doing our job and just catching and working and getting those wins, that's all that matters."

There were no "throw me the damn ball" moments in Philadelphia's locker room.

"I didn't have to sell it too much," Pederson said. "These guys are unselfish players. They are team players. I think any time that you factor in the wins, and they're contributing to the wins, it sort of minimizes or sort of takes away the (idea) that, 'I've got to have 1,000 yards; I got to have 10 touchdowns; I've got to rush for this many yards and have this many touchdowns.' I think it minimizes that a little bit, because the team is doing well and the success of the offense."

Cleveland's drama club is acting up again.

Frustrated by their recent poor play in a season when their NBA title hopes seem to be slipping away, the Cavaliers held an emotional pre-practice meeting on Monday in hopes of clearing the air.

They've lost 10 of 14 and dropped to third in the Eastern Conference behind Boston and Toronto. With an embarrassing defeat to Oklahoma City on national TV still lingering, the Cavs decided it was time to address their troubled state before leaving for Tuesday's game at San Antonio.

"We aired any grievances we had and we're going to move forward," said center Kevin Love, who regretted that the meeting was leaked publicly. "Hopefully we'll be better for it, we have been in the past."

Chaos is nothing new for the Cavaliers, who have had similar blowups in recent years yet managed to overcome any differences and went to the Finals the past three years.

Love has been in the middle of controversy before, and after he missed two days with an illness, it was presumed he was involved in Monday's discussion.

"Did I feel like a target?" he said at Tuesday's shootaround. "I think everybody, most people, were a target. We're trying to figure this thing out. People hold themselves to a very high standard on this team and we're a team that can compete at the highest level. So, for us, it's not about me.

"I'm not going to make it about myself. I'm sure with other guys, it's the same thing. The biggest thing is moving forward. For me, the thing I've always done is kept my mouth shut, I continue to work hard and try to do best for the Cavs. That's all I can do tonight and moving forward these last 35, 40 games and overall just try to help this team."

Amid all the chaos, Love was named a reserve for next month's NBA All-Star Game later in the day. While he wants to move on from the team's latest turbulence, there may be some unresolved issues.

When the team arrived at San Antonio's AT&T Center, Love was the first player off the bus and he walked into the arena by himself wearing headphones and carrying a coffee cup. His teammates trailed in behind him.

Although Love is averaging 18.6 points and 9.4 rebounds, there always seems to be a sense that he should be doing more. He's been the scapegoat before, so the latest uproar surrounding the team doesn't surprise him.

"I'm numb to it at this point," he said. "We've been to three straight Finals. We've been able to thrive under a certain amount of chaos at some points. The good thing about us is we've got better throughout the course of seasons and we've peaked at the right time. We're hoping that it's not any different."

LeBron James refused to address the meeting, saying "I don't want to talk about it" three times.

James enters the matchup with the Spurs needing seven points to become the seventh player in league history with 30,000.

Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue spoke during the meeting, which took place at the team's training facility in Independence, Ohio.

Lue has decided not to make any changes to his lineup or rotations in hopes that his experienced team — Cleveland has the league's oldest roster — will figure things out.

Until then, Lue hopes that venting their concerns will help the Cavaliers, who have been blown out three times in the past two weeks.

"We've got to do something about it," he said. "We're doing a lot of talking, but we've got to play better. We've got to execute better offensively, we've got to execute better defensively. We've got to be better collectively. Everyone has to be better. We've been saying that, but we're taking the necessary steps to do that."

Love played just three minutes in Saturday's loss to the Thunder because of an illness. He went home and then missed Sunday's practice, but Lue dismissed Love's absence as an issue.

"It's not about one person, it's about all of us," he said. "If the training staff says Kevin is sick and he's out, he's sick and he's out. I don't think anybody on our team is a doctor, none of the players, so you can't speak for what the training staff says. Of course, throughout the course of the season he's human, everyone is human and there's going to be other guys that are going to get sick and be down now, too.

"We've just got to move forward, move past that and we've got to try to get on track as far as winning basketball games."

Lue thought it was misguided for Love to absorb the brunt of the criticism after his teammates allowed the most points by a Cleveland team since 1972.

"That's crazy. I mean, if Kevin was out there, we might have given up 170," he said, laughing. "We're being tested right now. That's when your true character comes out and the character of who you are as a person, as a player."

___

AP freelance writer Raul Dominquez in San Antonio contributed to this report.

___

More NBA basketball: https://apnews.com/tag/NBAbasketball

New York • Stephen Curry will be able to stock his All-Star roster with plenty of Golden State teammates.

Klay Thompson and Draymond Green were chosen as reserves Tuesday, giving the defending NBA champions a record-tying four All-Stars for the second straight year.

The Minnesota Timberwolves and Washington Wizards also had two reserves selected, and they will go into the pool of players that Curry and fellow captain LeBron James can draft to comprise the teams for the Feb. 18 game in Los Angeles. Their rosters will be unveiled Thursday, though the selection process won't be televised.

Minnesota's Jimmy Butler and Karl-Anthony Towns were chosen from the Western Conference, along with Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook, San Antonio's LaMarcus Aldridge and Portland's Damian Lillard.

Besides Washington's John Wall and Bradley Beal, the rest of the Eastern Conference reserves were Boston's Al Horford, Cleveland's Kevin Love, New York's Kristaps Porzingis, Toronto's Kyle Lowry and Indiana's Victor Oladipo.

The starters were announced last week. Curry and the Warriors' Kevin Durant joined Houston's James Harden and New Orleans' Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins from the West, while the East players besides James were Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo, Boston's Kyrie Irving, Toronto's DeMar DeRozan and Philadelphia's Joel Embiid.

James and Curry earned the captain spots by being the leading vote-getters in fan balloting in each conference. They will not have to stick to conference affiliation when drafting their teams.

James will have the first pick after receiving the most total votes. After the starters are chosen, Curry will have the first pick among the reserves.

Beal, Oladipo, Porzingis and Towns were all first-time selections. Every other reserve will be making at least his third All-Star appearance.

The reserves were voted upon by the head coaches in each conference, who had to select two guards, three frontcourt players and two other players regardless of position. They were prohibited for voting for their own players.

Players having strong seasons who didn't make the cut included Detroit's Andre Drummond, the NBA's leading rebounder, Clippers guard Lou Williams, Houston's Chris Paul and Oklahoma City's Paul George.

Holladay • It’s not a fatal blow, but a plan to redevelop the old Cottonwood Mall site encountered a setback Tuesday after the Holladay Planning Commission rejected the proposal as inconsistent with the city’s general vision for its future.

The buildings were too tall and too close to its largest flanking roads, the commission said in a 5-1 vote denying the request by Ivory Homes Ltd. and Woodbury Corp. to revise an approved but dormant 10-year-old plan for the large parcel in the heart of Holladay.

Planners also said the proposal “missed the mark” in meeting the site’s designation as a mixed-use project of regional significance because the parcel was “purposefully divided into two areas,” with too much space (40 of the 57 acres) set aside for residential development and too little land devoted to tax-producing commercial properties.

Concerns also were raised about the lack of connections between the residential and smaller office/commercial zone, the amount of open space, and the size of lots and layout of streets in the project’s envisioned neighborhoods.

“We’re not lamenting the loss of the Cottonwood Mall,” said Alyssa Lloyd, a commissioner on the panel. “We’re addressing this with an eye to the future. My reservation is [that] it’s not all it could be.”

“It looks like Daybreak comes to the east side,” added Commissioner Chris Layton, referring to the community Daybreak Communities is developing in the valley’s southwestern corner. He expressed displeasure with the developers’ reluctance to address planners’ concerns, repeated multiple times in two months of meetings. “We’ve been very diligent, thoughtful and put in a lot of effort, and this [proposal] is not worthy of Holladay right now.”

The panel’s denouncement is to be delivered to the Holladay City Council at a 5:30 p.m. meeting Thursday at St. Vincent de Paul church, 1375 Spring Lane (about 5000 South), initiating another process involving more public hearings and give-and-take with the developers.

That process actually begins Wednesday, when an open house on the proposal is scheduled to run from 5 to 8 p.m. at Holladay City Hall, 4580 S. 2300 East.

While disappointed, Ivory Homes President Chris Gamvroulas said he was viewing the planners’ decision as “not so much a roadblock as some really good insight … that we’ll take into account when we move forward with the City Council.”

“Our goal,” he added, “has always been to bring forward the most positive, beneficial project we can envision that will also be economically viable.”

The developers have said a key to that viability was their ability to market a 136-foot-tall office tower capable of attracting a top-notch primary tenant that would draw other desirable companies to move into the area.

But that height was unacceptable to several commissioners who didn’t want to see anything taller than the 90-foot buildings approved in the previous site plan.

Ivory Homes and Woodbury amended their concept partway through the panel’s deliberations, moving that tower off the corner of Highland Drive and Murray-Holladay Road, and surrounding it with other buildings so it did not stand out so much.

But that was not enough to assuage the concerns of most planners.

Herriman • The 0-fer finally is over.

After losing its first 11 meetings against Riverton, Herriman’s girls’ basketball team broke through in a big way Tuesday night. The Mustangs routed their visitors 66-45 and celebrated appropriately after finally beating their neighbors to the east.

“It’s amazing to finally get over this hump and have the confidence to beat them,” senior guard Milee Enger said. “Riverton always has a good program. To come in here and play so well and come away with a victory is huge for us.”

Enger led the way with a season-high 23 points and five 3-pointers. Jalyn Van Dyke added 19 points to keep Herriman (14-2, 3-0) unbeaten in Region 3 and on pace for a first-place showdown with Copper Hills.

Riverton (12-5, 1-2) was undone by poor outside shooting. The Silverwolves made only two baskets outside the paint. Senior center Morgan Kane did her part to keep things close, matching a season high with 24 points.

“I think if we could have kept her off the boards, then that would have been a different story,” Herriman coach Keisha Jones said about Kane. “But she’s a great player.”

No other Riverton player scored more than four points.

Herriman, which plays Copper Hills (15-1) on Thursday, held Riverton to five points in the third quarter and capitalized on six turnovers to push the lead to double digits.

Enger, who has signed to play at Sacramento State, scored nine points in the third quarter, and Van Dyke helped seal it with eight points in the final period.

Perhaps the biggest cheer of the evening came midway through the fourth quarter when Herriman senior Macy Markus made two free throws after a technical foul. Markus, who has not played this season because of a torn ACL, received hugs and high-fives after sinking both shots.

“I told her if there was ever a technical, I’d sub her in to shoot the free throws,” Jones said. “It’s awesome to get her points for her senior year. I’m very proud of her.”

HERRIMAN 66, RIVERTON 45 <br>• Milee Enger scores a season-high 23 points and Jalyn Van Dyke adds 19 as Herriman defeats Riverton for the first time in school history. <br>• Herriman, which opened in 2010, already has set the record for wins in a season. The previous high was 10 in 2015-16. <br>• Three of Riverton’s four losses have come by 20 points or more.

South Jordan • Westlake had little to no answer for Bingham guard Maggie McCord.

The Thunder employed a variety of defenses to no avail, unable to contain the junior Tuesday night. McCord punished the Thunder, tallying 19 of the Miners’ 41 points and accounting for three steals en route to the Miners’ 41-34 victory.

“I just want to be part of the team, and I don’t care about the 19 points,” McCord said. “It’s a team game, and the points have nothing to do with what we accomplished as a team tonight. I need to step up and continue to get better to help us be successful.”

Not that the Thunder didn’t put a scare into the Miners. Every time Bingham threatened to pull away, Westlake’s three-quarters pressure defense led to Miners turnovers and easy buckets on the offensive end. Bingham never led by more than eight points. However, too much McCord and teammate Jaycee Lichtie proved too much to handle.

“Maggie is so valuable because she is such a team player and brings so much positive energy,” Bingham coach Charron Mason said.” She wants everyone to win, and she’s a great player.”

The 3-pointer was a valuable weapon for Westlake, helping the Thunder lead for the majority of the first half. But despite seeing limited playing time in the first two quarters because of foul trouble, McCord returned to lead the Miners on an 11-3 run to close the second quarter and grab an 18-14 lead at halftime.

Westlake was most effective when deploying a 2-3 zone, but that didn’t stop McCord from continuing her offensive prowess. Turnovers plagued the Thunder, and it seemed McCord was always the one leading the charge on the fast break.

“It took working together, and Westlake played their hearts out,” Mason said. “We had to be patient and work together and tried to find open shots when they were available. We were able to move the ball against a very good team.”

BINGHAM 41, WESTLAKE 34 <br>• The Miners use am 11-3 run at the end of the first half to grab the lead at halftime. <br>• Maggie McCord leads Bingham with 19 points. <br>• The win is Bingham’s third in a row.

There are mountains in the Alps, from Austria to France, that veteran alpine racers have skied dozens of times over the years, so often they know every curve and can anticipate every bump.

"There's some guys on tour for 15 years who have 60 runs down these hills," said American skier Travis Ganong. "At that point, it's kind of ingrained — they know where to expend energy, where to save energy, where to push the line and where to hold back."

And then there's the downhill course for next month's Pyeongchang Games, located in the Taebaek mountains about 90 miles east of Seoul, far removed from the World Cup circuit and foreign to most ski racers. Most of the world's top skiers have raced the Olympic course only a couple of times.

Looking for an edge, the U.S. alpine team turned to virtual reality technology that allows American racers to memorize the hill and take hundreds of virtual runs down a fast, tricky course. Instead of getting a single training run in the days before the Olympic competition, many of the U.S. racers will step into their skis having spent several months virtually racing the course with the aid of a 360-degree video and a headset.

"If we can enhance their ability to learn that course, you'd certainly think that would have a positive benefit on them," said Troy Taylor, the high performance director for U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association.

Entering race day, he estimated, the average World Cup skier will have been on the Jeongseon course fewer than a half-dozen times. By comparison, he said the U.S. team can easily squeeze in dozens of virtual runs in a couple of days, ensuring every skier is as prepared as possible for a run they've spent four years dreaming about.

The U.S. skiers are the first known Olympic team in the world to utilize virtual reality in their training. In the United States, many professional and college teams use the technology, though the point-of-view is usually stationary and not flying down a mountain at 80 miles per hour.

Two years ago, Taylor connected with STRIVR Labs, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based company that's considered a leader in the field for sports teams, and presented the problem. The skiers would be facing an unfamiliar mountain, but they had a small window of opportunity. There was a World Cup stop in 2016 on the Jeongseon course and Taylor hoped STRIVR could capture video during that visit that would be helpful in Olympic preparations.

STRIVR works with a variety of sports outfits, but the company had never tried anything like a downhill course.

They attached a 360-degree camera to the helmet of one of the coaches and sent him down the course dozens of times, trying to find the same line that racers would ski two years later in the Pyeongchang Games. STRIVR then stitched together the video and sped up the footage to match the speed of the fastest racers.

Derek Belch, the company's CEO, knew the challenges from the starting gate. Virtual reality that features motion often results in nausea for the user. Virtually weaving your down a steep hill at speeds reserved for interstate highways felt like a certain stomach-turner.

STRIVR tried to stabilize the video and ski team officials paired the headset with other movements to keep the athlete moving with video.

"It actually ended up better than I thought it would be," Belch said. "... It's all about what the stomach can endure. I think one thing we actually underestimated was how solid the stomachs of these athletes are."

Most of the ski team has tried it but while some have utilized virtual reality dozens of times, others didn't feel as comfortable.

"You watch it and you get pretty sick and dizzy," said Ganong, who tore his anterior cruciate ligament earlier this month and will miss Pyeongchang.

Resi Stiegler, who's entering her fourth Olympics, specializes in technical events and says it might be more beneficial for downhillers. She's tried it several times but always falls victim to motion sickness.

"I think the speed girls can really, really benefit from it," she said. "And younger girls who haven't skied the course before, they can learn what to expect before they get there."

Officials were encouraged by the feedback and expanded their use of the technology beyond the Olympic mountain. They now travel with a 360-degree camera and have built up a library of World Cup courses that allows skiers to train for a race in Switzerland, for example, from a hotel room in Spain.

And they've especially found that it can be a valuable tool for injured athletes. The virtual runs allow those who can't physically get on the mountain to mentally practice racing any of the dozens of courses the U.S. ski team has recorded.

At the USSA's Center of Excellence in Park City, the team also utilizes a giant simulator housed in the organization's gym. A skier steps into bindings and faces a huge screen that displays a course either via video or computer-generated imagery. As the racer appears to move down the course, the simulator whirs to life, creating movement and generating forces that mimic the sensation of skiing. Steven Nyman, who missed most of the past year with a torn anterior cruciate ligament and is hoping to make his fourth Olympic team, said the simulator is a good bridge to returning to the mountain.

"When it comes to downhill, there's nothing like it obviously. But when you're making slalom turns on the thing, it's fairly realistic," he said. "It gains a lot of energy, there's a lot of pressure and rebound and that's what I was trying to do: Load up my left knee and see how it would react. Once things were feeling comfortable, I was like, 'Oh cool, I think I'm ready to go on the snow.'"

Skiers, both injured or healthy, can pair the simulator with footage of the Pyeongchang course or even strap on the virtual reality headset. Ted Ligety, a two-time Olympic gold medalist who's overcome a series of injuries in recent years to qualify for his fourth Winter Games, said it can help skiers identify landmarks and memorize changes in the terrain.

"It's still a far cry away from the actual sport," he said. "It's cool on the visual side of things. ... Especially on the downhill and super-G side of things, you can see the hill. That can be important in those events."

Most of the U.S. ski team has used the virtual reality headset or the simulator at least once, and Taylor said some have been using it at least weekly since the summer. While they've been focused largely on their World Cup season, he said, many will start studying the Pyeongchang course in more earnest in the next few weeks.

While virtual reality might be making its debut as a training tool at these Olympics, the technology is relatively new and many think it'll have an even bigger impact four years from now. Scott Reiwald, the USOC's high performance director, said he could see virtual reality being used in the next Olympic cycle to prepare athletes in the biathlon and some of the sliding sports, too.

"We've got our feet in the water. ... We're looking for opportunities and ways to expand that," he said. "It's happening but not as systematically as we'll hopefully be using it in four years time."

STRIVR's Belch notes, though, that there are limitations posed by most winter sports, such as snowboarding or figure skating. "I don't want to do anything goofy. ... I think there's only a handful of opportunities that are truly doable to be legit in VR," he said.

"In the case of what we're doing for the ski team, it's really a phenomenal use case. They will set a course a certain way for the Olympics and if they're not prepared for it - for those fractions of a second they can shave by knowing where the gates are going to be and having a comfort level of what that mountain looks like - you're at a huge disadvantage. This is something that we thought was a no-brainer use case as far as creating a competitive advantage."